People ordered to stay away from ice caves

Large cracks have opened up in the Crystal Beach ice caves and the fire department is telling people to stay clear of them. Niagara Police are moving people away from the caves. Late this afternoon two people fell and injured themselves.

Thousands have been flocking to Fort Erie’s waterfront park to take a look at this dazzling phenomenon.

“It was fun.”

“I had a wonderful day. It was so much fun. Amazing, it was a good day.”

This ice cave phenomenon is the result of a perfect combination of snow, wind and freezing cold temperatures on Lake Erie this winter. With all of those elements the caves kept getting bigger, the ice, that much harder. One of the most spectacular features: the ice bridge.

Fort Erie fire chief Larry Coplen acknowledges both the fun, and the danger. “The kids are having a blast out there. There’s ice patches, they’re sliding. The caves are phenomenal. Never seen anything like it. But it is quite treacherous.”

This afternoon a 65 year old woman broke her hip when she fell hard on the ice. She was offshore and had to be rescued by the Fort Erie fire department. Yesterday a 60 year old man slipped. He hit his head on the ice and was briefly unconscious.

“There’s a light dusting of snow on top of the ice. Once in a while you get a very slippery piece. So what you think is flat and safe is very slippery underneath.”

The ice is one concern, the warming temperatures another. “When the weather does start to warm up we’re going to have some issues.”

Authorities will be meeting this week to decide what to do when the temperatures cause these caves to weaken. The last thing they want to see is the ice collapsing on someone.

If there’s the possibility of that happening they will bring out bulldozers and flatten these caves so no one gets hurt.

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